Illumination device



March 31, 1936. R, F|QRAVANT| 2,036,032

ILLUMINATION DEVICE Filed Feb. 25, 1935 2 sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TORATTORNEKF Match 31, 1936. R, FIORAVANTI 2,036,032

ILLUMINATION DEVICE Filed Feb. 23, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 5% W lA TTORNE Y6 Patented Mar. 31, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEILLUMINATION DEVICE Application February 23, 1935, Serial No. 7,757

In Italy June 25, 1934 11 Claims.

. This invention relates to illumination devices and more especially toilluminated signs.

In general, it is an object of the invention to provide a device of thecharacter described, which will efiiciently perform the purposes forwhich it is intended, which is simple and economical of construction,which can be expeditiously, conveniently and safely manipulated, andwhich can be readily manufactured and assembled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a translucent sign havingindicia with automatically variable light characteristics; and toprovide such a sign wherein the motive power is derived immediately froma thermo-responsive element.

Another object is to provide switch means for automatically interruptingelectric current supplied to a thermo-responsive unit at intervalspredeterminedly arranged in conjunction with the movements of alight-modifying unit operated by said thermo-responsive device.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in partappear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction,combinations of elements,

' and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in theconstruction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application ofwhich will be indicated in the claims.

For a full understanding of the nature and objects of the inventionreference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, in

which:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation and partly in crosssection of a deviceembodying one form of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device shown in Fig. 1, with thefront and one end of the casing removed;

Fig. 3 is a detailed view in perspective of the switch means shown inFig. 1 and on a larger scale;

Fig. 4 is a front view in elevation, partly broken away, of the deviceshown in Figs. 1-3; and

Fig. 5 is a side view in elevation and partly in cross-section of amodification of the device shown in Fig. 1. 1

In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1-4

a source of illumination such as an electric light bulb I is positioned,directly or indirectly, to illuminate a translucent element II. Theelement ll may consist of various translucent indicia, letters, figures,signs or pictures, etc. The term translucent embraces the termtransparent. The bulb l0 and the element II are suitably mounted,preferably in a casing which shuts off most of the light rays exceptthose passing through the element I l. The casing [2 has a floor l3, afront wall l4, end walls It: (one not shown) and a rear wall l6 and sucha cover as may be desired. Suitably positioned between the lamp l0 andelement l I are means for varying the quality, i. e., the design, thedirection, the intensity or the color, etc., of the light which reachesthe element H. These means may comprise reflecting or translucent,colored or clear members ll. These colored members are movably mountedin any desired fashion. For example, the members I! may have their endsattached to discs l8 which are in turn pivotally supported so as torotate in vertical planes. bers form a relatively rigid barrel-likestructure.

Means are provided for causing the rotation of the barrel structure. Theprincipal source of energy for this rotation is derived from athermoresponsive element I9 which may be in the form of a bi-metallicstrip, one end of which is fixed, as by the clamp 20, to the floor 13 ofthe casing. The free end of the thermo-responsive element I9 isconnected to one of the discs whereby as the free element moves duringexpansion or contraction a rotary motion is imparted to the discs. Anysuitable linkage arrangement may be used, that shown comprising. a lever2| attached to the thermoresponsive element 19 at one end and attachedto a crank arm 22 at the other end, the crank arm being pivotallymounted on one of the discs 18. The successive expansions andcontractions of the thermo-responsive element l9 communicate anoscillating movement to the discs 18, or they may communicate acontinuous rotation by the use of proper pawl and ratchet mechanism.

Heat is supplied to the thermo-responsive device, for example, by meansof an electric current which passes through a resistance wire 23 woundaround the element l9. One end of the. wire may be directly connected toa binding post 24. The other end of the wire is connected to anotherbinding post 25 through any convenient current-interrupting means.

A wire 26 may bring the current from the binding post 25 to a metallicpost 21 fixedly attached to one of the discs 18. There are switch meanswhich provide a contact with the post 21 while it is being moved in aportion of its path in one direction by the disc. These means arearranged so as not to be in contact with the post 21 when that post ispassing along the same path but in the opposite direction. Heatingcurrent is thus supplied to the resistance wire 23 for a period of timeThe two discs and the connecting memwhile the barrel structure isrotating in one direction and is eventually out off. Thereupon, thethermo-responslve element causes the barrel structure to rotate in theopposite direction and during this opposite rotation the post 21 is notin contact with the switch means until the discs have returned to apredetermined position.

The switch means comprise a spring 28 which tends to hold the post 21 incontact with a resilient conducting plate 29 which is electricallyconnected to the resistance wire 23. The post 21 is held in thisposition against the conducting plate 29 even when the binding posts 24and 25 are not connected to a source of potential. A second resilientconducting plate 33 is positioned to come into contact with the post 21as the latter rotates away from the conducting plate 29. The latterplate is also electrically connected to the resistance wire 23. An edgeof the plate is so located that as the post 21 is moved by the rotatingdisc l8, the post passes off from the plate 30 and the connectionbetween the post 29 and resistance wire 23 is thereby broken. The plate30 which has been bent by the motion of the post 21 springs back, afterthe post 21 and the plate separate, to the position which it held whenthe post 21 was in contact with the plate 2 9.

This latter position is such that when the post 21 reverses itsdirection of motion and returns toward the plate 36, it contacts thelatter upon the opposite face from that with which it was previously incontact. This opposite face is covered with a non-conductor 3|. Theplate 30 is provided with an aperture 32. While the post 21 is passingalong the non-conductor 3|, the resilient plate 30 gives to accommodatethe arcuate path of the post 21 and is bent in a direction opposite tothat mentioned above. Eventually the post 21 reaches the aperture 32whereupon the plate 30 springs back to its normal position, the aperture32 permitting the plate 30 to swing past the post 21. The plate 29 whichhas also been bent aside by the plate 30 while the post 21 was incontact with the nonconductor 3|, similarly springs back to its normalposition, but since there is no aperture in the plate 29, the latterforms an electrical contact with the post 21, and the switch device andpost 21 once more are in the initial position in which the spring 28tends to hold them.

A reflecting element 33 may be positioned with respect to the lamp l0 soas to direct the rays therefrom toward the illuminated sign element IThe operation of the device is as follows:

Before the current has been connected to the terminal posts 24 and 25,the spring 28 attached to one of the discs I 8 tends to hold the barrelstructure in a position suchthat the post 21 lies between the plates 29and 30 and in contact with the former. When a source of potential isapplied to the binding posts 24 and 25 a current passes along the wire26, the post 21, the plate 29, the resistance wire 23, and the bindingpost 24. This current heats the resistance wire 23, which in turn heatsthe thermo-responsive element l9, the latter expands and the free endthereof moves, carrying with it the lever 2|, which in turn pushes thecrank arm 22 so as to rotate the attached disc l8 against the force ofthe spring 26. As various ones of the colored strips |1 pass between thelamp I0 and the illuminated element they throw a colored light upon thelatter which moves. At certain times certain of the strips H are passingdownward between the lamp l0 and the element while others are passingupward. This gives an interesting and novel compound light effect uponthe element Looking at the device from the right-hand end, the barrelstructure and discs I! have a clockwise motion, which carries the post21 up past the edge of the plate 29 and into contact with the left-handsurface of the plate 30. The current continues to pass until the post 21passes off the edge of the plate 30, which plate in 'the meantime hasbeen bent to the right by the post 21 as it has moved in its clockwisedirection. The plate 30 now snaps back to the left to its normalposition. The current no longer passes; the thermo-responsive elementbecomes cold, contracts, and operates to pull the barrel structure inthe opposite direction, that is in a counterclockwise direction. Thepost 21 approaches again the plate 30, this time in its downward pathpassing along the right-hand or rear surface of the plate 38 which iselectrically insulated. The plate 30 is bent to the left, or forward; bythe motion of the post 21 until the latter reaches the aperture 32,which latter permits the plate 30 to spring past the post rearwardly toits normal position. The plate 29 also moves rearwardly and comes intocontact with the post 21, whereby the electric circuit is againestablished and the device is ready to proceed again with theabove-described cycle of events.

A modification of the device shown in Figs. 1 to 4 is illustrated inFig. 5. In this modification the translucent element II, which is tohave various light intensities and colors played thereon, is located inthe upper part of the forward wall 46 of the casing and receives lightreflected from a mirror 4|. This light is supplied by a lamp 42 andpasses through a plurality of colored translucent strips 43 which arearranged horizontally and longitudinally of the device. These strips aresupported by at least one horizontal support 44. The support 44 iscarried by a pivoted arm 45 and one end 46 of a pivoted lever 41. Whenthe end 46 is caused to rotate the arm 45 also rotates, giving thesupport 44 a transverse movement, as viewed from above. The variouscolors transmitted by the various strips are reflected from varyingportions of the mirror 4|, and these colors then appear to move up anddown the element The lever 41 is caused to rotate around a pivot 48 bymeans of a. thermo-responsive element 49 which has an extension 50 whichbears against the other ann 5| of the pivoted lever 41. One end of thethermo-responsive element is fixed,

. and to the other end there is attached a finger 52. When the element49 is cold the finger 52 is in a position such that it has pushed aswitch blade 53 against a contact 54. The contact 54 is electricallyconnected to a resistance wire 55 wound around the thermo-responsiveelement 49, the other end of which wire is connected to the binding post56. The switch blade 53 is connected to a second binding post 51.

The operation of the device is as follows:

When there is no potential supplied to the binding posts 56 and 51, thethermo-responsive element is cold and the finger 52 has pushed theswitch tongue 53 into such an unbalanced position that the compressedspring 58 has pushed that blade into contact against the contact 54. Ifnow a source of potential is applied to the binding posts 56 and 51, anelectric current passes through the resistance wire 55 and heats thethermo-responsive element, the free end of which moves in such adirection as to cause the finger 52 to lift the switch blade 53 awayfrom the contact 54 and past dead center so as to cause the spring 58 tosnap the blade 53 against the insulated SCOIJ59. At the same time thatthe finger 52 has been opening the switch 53 the extension 50 haspressed against the arm 5| ofthe pivoted lever 41 and caused the latterto move. The arm 46 of the lever 41 by its motion shifts the horizontalposition of the strips 43, giving the desired light changes upon thetranslucent element or screen I I.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction anddifferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as amatter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, means providing translucent indicia, a source ofillumination, means adapted for changing the quality of the lightreaching said indicia and attached to rotatable mounting means, andthermo-responsive means adapted for supplying energy to saidqualitychanging means at such spaced points thereon that certain of saidlight quality-changing means cross in one direction a line joining saidsource and said indicia while others thereof cross in another directionsaid line.

2. In combination, means providing translucent indicia, a source ofillumination, means adapted for changing the quality of the lightreaching said indicia and attached to rotatable mounting means, andtheme-responsive means adapted for supplying energy to saidqualitychanging means, said thermo-responsive means being connected tosaid mounting means whereby said mounting means are rotated in oppositedirections by the expansion'and contraction of said 'thermo-responsivemeans.

3. In combination, means providing translucent indicia, a source ofillumination, means adapted for changing the quality of the lightreaching said indicia and attached to rotatable mounting means,thermo-responsive means adapted for supplying energy to saidqualitychanging means, said thermo-responsive means being connected tosaid mounting means whereby said mounting means are rotated in oppositedirections by the expansion and contraction of said therrno-responsivemeans, and means associated with said mounting means and adapted atpredetermined points of the rotation thereof for establishing anddiscontinuing the heat received by said thermo-responsive means.

i. In combination, means providing translucent indicia, a source ofillumination, means adapted for changing the quality of the lightreaching said indicia and attached to rotatable mounting means,thermo-responsive means adapted for supplying energy to saidqualitychanging means, said thermo-responsive means being connected tosaid mounting means whereby said mounting means are rotated by thethermally-induced motion of said thermo-responsive means, electriccurrent means adapted for supplying heat to said thermo-responsivemeans, and

means associated with said mounting means and adapted at certainpositions of said mounting means to establish and discontinue theheatsupplying power of said electric current means.

5. In combination, means providing translucent indicia, a source ofillumination, means adapted for changing the quality of the lightreaching said indicia and attached to rotatable mounting means,thermo-responsive means adapted for supplying energy to saidquality-changing means, said thermo-responsive means being connected tosaid mounting means whereby said mounting means are rotated by thethermally-induced motion of said thermo-responsive means, electriccurrent means adapted for supplying heat to said thermo-responsivemeans, and switch means associated with said mounting means and adaptedfor making and breaking, at predetermined points of rotation of saidmounting means, a circuit in said electric current means.

6. In combination, means providing translucent indicia, a source ofillumination, means adapted for changing the quality of the lightreaching said indicia and attached to rotatable mounting means,thermo-responsive means adapted for supplying energy to saidqualitychanging means, said thermo-responsive means being connected tosaid mounting means whereby said mounting means are rotated bythethermally-induced motion of said thermo-responsive means, electriccurrent means adapted for supplying heat to said thermo-responsivemeans, switch means associated with said mounting means and adapted formaking and breaking, at predetermined points of rotation of saidmounting means. a circuit in said electric current means, and meansadapted for tending to cause said mounting means to return to a positionsuch that said switch means makes said circuit.

7. In combination, means providing translucent indicia, a source ofillumination, rotatably mounted means adapted for changing the qualityof the light reaching said indicia, and thermo responsive means adaptedfor supplying energy to said quality-changing means, electric-circuitmeans for supplying heat to said thermo-responsive means and having arelatively fixed resilient contact and a contact movable with saidrotatable means, and means causing said contacts to be brought togetherwhen said movable contact moves in one direction and causing saidcontacts to remain in engagement when said movable contact moves in theopposite direction.

8. In combination, means providing translucent indicia, a source ofillumination, rotatably mounted means adapted for changing the qualityof the light reaching said indicia, and thermoresponsive means adaptedfor supplying energy to said quality-changing means, electric-circuitmeans for supplying heat to said thermo-responsive means and having arelatively fixed resilient contact and a contact movable with saidrotatable means, and means causing said contacts to be brought togetherwhen said movable contact moves over a given path in one direction andcausing said contacts to remain in engagement when said movable contactmoves in the opposite direction along said path.

9. In combination, means providing translucent indicia, a source ofillumination, means adapted for changing the quality of the lightreaching said indicia,'thermoresponsive means adapted for supplyingenergy to said qualitychanging means, pivotally-mounted arms adapted forsupporting said light quality-changing means, and means mechanicallyconnecting said thermoresponsive means and one of said arms whereby amotion of said thermo-responsive means is communicated to said lightquality-changing means.

10. In combination, means providing translucent indicia, a source ofillumination, means adapted for changing the quality of the lightreaching said indicia, thermo-responsive means adapted for supplyingenergy to said qualitychanging means, and automatic electric meansadapted for supplying heat to said thermo-responsive means and having anoil-center switch operated by said thermo-responsive means for shuttingoiT the electric means when said thermoresponsive means has undergone apredetermined expansion.

11. In combination, means providing translucent indicia, a source ofillumination, means RAFFAELE FIORAVANTI.

